UPDATE: Unfortunately, this deal has now ended. You can still get the 2-camera kit for $8,990, though this doesn’t offer any advantages over the individual prices of buying the two cameras on their own.
This deal on B&H offers the Blackmagic Design URSA 4K PL (AKA the big one) for just $500… well, at least in theory, as there is one little detail. You also just need to shell out a few thousand bucks for the brand new Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro.
Criticised by many due to its large size and weight, the original Blackmagic URSA 4K was quickly dethroned by its little sibling – the Mini – a couple of years ago.
Now that the Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro has stolen the show, it may leave many wondering why anyone would want the big ol’ original URSA in the first place. Well, a $500 price tag could be reason enough for many, with this deal offered by B&H. (Thanks to our reader Martijn Schroevers for the heads-up on this incredible deal!)
For essentially the price of an entry-level DSLR, you are still getting a host of great features, such as 4K Super35 sensor, 12 claimed stops of Dynamic Range, ProRes and Raw recording, XLRs, SDIs and screens… oh, so many screens.
Of course, this comes with the not-so-insignificant caveat that it is only available alongside the fresh-out-of-the-oven Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro. I don’t think we would be too far off the mark if we guessed this “cinema camera kit for 2-camera coverage” from B&H is an attempt to quickly flip their current stock of big URSAs ahead of the official release date of the Mini Pro.
I think it’s safe to say that Blackmagic Design is going to be selling a lot of Mini Pros, so if you’re thinking of jumping on that bandwagon, you may want to consider paying a few more hundred dollars and going for this deal. Even if you don’t need it, the second hand value alone may be worth the extra effort.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, this deal has now ended. You can still get the 2-camera kit for $8,990, though this doesn’t offer any advantages over the individual prices of buying the two cameras on their own.
The B&H image for their 2-camera kit. Uhm… Image not to scale.
Thinking of becoming the proud owner of a brand-old big URSA alongside an URSA Mini Pro? Let us know in the comments!
Special Thanks to Martijn Schroevers for pointing this deal out to us.

Blackmagic Design have sent out invitations via email and posted teasers on social media inviting people to a live stream of “a press conference showing our latest camera and post production technology” today. What’s behind this Blackmagic Live Stream?
Blackmagic Live Stream. Photo credit: Blackmagic
While we don’t know what to expect from this Blackmagic Live Stream, one can presume that DaVinci Resolve 13 is a likely candidate for announcement, given that their invite specifically mentions their professional post-production software. There is, however, surprisingly little information in the wild about this press conference. Some rumours have started circulating about a 4K update to their MFT Pocket Cinema Camera, with the addition of an H.265 codec. All we know is that we can’t wait to tune in and find out what Blackmagic have up their sleeves.
Local times indicated below, to see what they have in store for us.
Leave me your guesses in the comments below, and let’s see who gets it right!
Los Angeles 12:00 pm PST Thursday 2nd March 2017
New York 3:00 pm EST Thursday 2nd March 2017
London 8:00 pm GMT Thursday 2nd March 2017
Tokyo 5:00 am JST Friday 3rd March 2017
Sydney 7:00 am AEDT Friday 3rd March 2017

At this year’s IBC, Blackmagic Design hasn’t announced a whole bunch of new cameras, that’s the first surprise. The other surprise is the aquisition of two more companies, namely Fairlight and Ultimatte. And there’s some updates on the Video Assist 4K and DaVinci Resolve as well as on shipping status of the URSA cameras.
Blackmagic Design is Getting Bigger
Two more companies are now part of the Blackmagic Design family. One of them is Fairlight, a major manufacturer of professional audio products for live broadcast, film and television post production. This is what Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design, has to say about this aquisition:
The exciting part about this acquisition is that it will add incredibly high end professional audio technology to Blackmagic Design’s amazing video products. We look forward to working with the Fairlight team to build even more exciting new products for our customers!
A full blown Fairlight audio editing suite
Alright then, we’ll be keeping an eye on that one for sure. The other company which has been aquired might be of even bigger interest for the majority of us video shooters. Most likely, you’re already familiar with Ultimatte as it is the solution when it comes to keying a blue or greenscreen. As Stuart Ashton, Director EMEA at Blackmagic Design, puts it:
When you look in the dictionary and it says chroma key, next to it is says the word Ultimatte.
Ultimatte hardware keyer
That sems to be a really nice addition to Blackmagic Design’s lineup, as it can be tightly integrated in their other software, such as DaVinci Resolve.
Updates to Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve and Video Assist
Speaking of DaVinci Resolve and tightly integrated workflows, the next 12.5.2 update of DaVinci is exactly about that. In features Fusion Connect, which acts like a pipeline between DaVinci and Fusion in order to streamline the process how to work on certain footage in both applications without the need of render/export/import the given clip every time.
Next up, there’s a significant software update for the Video Assist line of monitor/recorders. It’s now capable of displaying things like false color, expanded focus aids and you can lock the screen so it won’t flip in situations you just don’t want it to flip, such as on a Steadicam.
Avid DNxHD working on a Video Assist 4K
Blackmagic Design also is giving Avid users have a reason to cheer up, as the Video Assist is now capable of recording all flavours of the DNxHD codec with everything from proxy all the way up to HQX.
The newest 2.2 version for Video Assit comes as a free download and it will be available from next week. You can find the download on their website.
sources: Fairlight aquisition / Ultimatte aquisition / DaVinci Resolve 12.5.2 / Video Assist 2.2

This is the first NAB in years where we’ve not seen a new camera announcement from Blackmagic Design. But the company doesn’t hesitate to introduce innovation in other fields. Besides their 4K disk recorder monitor that we already covered, Blackmagic also announced the complete re-write of their Ursa Mini Camera operating system, new micro converters, a dedicated studio viewfinder for the Ursa Mini and more.
News from Blackmagic Design
Sorry, no new camera whatsoever. But nevertheless, the guys over at Blackmagic Design had some fresh products and updates to show at this year’s NAB in Las Vegas. Maybe the company has learned from the past few years that it might be smart not to push things too hard and only to announce new products as they become available, or at least, almost available. Blackmagic Design’s Tim Siddons talks us through their latest announcements.
New OS for URSA
First of all, there is an entirely new user interface coming to the URSA range of cameras. Written from scratch, some annoying bits and pieces will be things of the past once this update is released “later this year.” Hopefully rather sooner than later, as it comes with some handy features such as the support of 17-point 3D LUTs, multi-user presets, variable white balance control (no more baked in presets) and a neat feature called smart shutter angle selection tool. It’s designed to determine the most appropriate set of shutter angles to use for your given area or frequency of voltage input, respectively to reduce flicker in your shot.
This update will be free of charge and will become available for the URSA mini range first and then for the original URSA camera.
New Blackmagic studio viewfinder and software for URSA
Next up, there is a significant update for the URSA range of cameras. Blackmagic Design announced a new software update which allows you to control the camera remotely via an ATEM studio mixer or any other production mixer which is capable of handling the URSA control protocols.
In addition to that, Blackmagic Design introduces a new studio viewfinder. It’s a 7″ screen with dedicated hardware controls and a neat variable resistance mounting solution which gives you total control of the viewfinders position. It’s not a touchscreen (like the one on the URSA itself), but it has it’s own control system which includes nice to have features like peaking, contrast, brightness (controlled via dedicated knobs) and software features like zebra, false color, guides, meters and assignable buttons. The Blackmagic Studio viewfinder will be available in July and will retail for 1,795$.
New line of micro converters
The family of Blackmagic Design’s Mini converters is growing. No, sorry. Actually, it is shrinking as the new line of converters is called micro converters and due to their size this new naming is quite reasonable—these boxes are more or less the size of a matchbox.
For now, there are two micro converters available:
SDI -> HDMI (with loop through on the SDI input)
HDMI -> SDI (with two SDI outputs)
Both converters are USB powered so the idea is to have them ready whenever needed even without an outlet in reach. Just use one of your power bricks for your phone. Yes, it is out of battery, again. These converters are available now, and they retail for 85$ each.
Resolve 12.5
There is another free update for their flagship grading suite, DaVinci resolve. It comes with a lot of new features, and even more, bugs were squashed in this release. The company claims that there are more than 1,000 improvements and more than 250 new features implemented in this version such as HDR support for example. A lot of developing went into the editing side of resolve, which is a necessity I would say but it’s nice to see it improving!
In the end, the question is this: What is easier—having an industry standard grading suite at hand and still have to develop an editing suite on top (DaVinci Resolve) or vice versa (Adobe Premiere Pro? The race is on!
Make sure to visit Blackmagic Design’s website for all the details and announcements regarding NAB 2016.

Watch previous episodes of ON THE COUCH & ON THE GO by clicking here! Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!
Here’s something we have saved for the holidays – a 50 minute discussion between the three “underdogs” – and relative newcomers – of the camera industry: Blackmagic Design, Apertus Open Source Cinema and Kinefinity.
Those are three very different manufacturers who got into the business for very different reasons, but they have one thing in common: They haven’t done this for a long time, are thinking outside the box and still make a lot of mistakes. And they all produce cameras that are capable of shooting really high-quality RAW or ProRes images that strive to challenge the “establishment”: Sony, Arri, Canon. (I wouldn’t add RED to that list because they were truly the first ones to bring prices of the competition down by introducing the RED ONE back in the day …).
Enjoy this very engaging conversation with Tim Siddons from Blackmagic Design, Sebastian Pichelhofer from Apertus and Michel Juknat for Kinefinity. I particularly enjoyed Sebastian Pichelhofer challenging Tim Siddons for some of Blackmagic’s choices when designing and developing cameras.
Please visit our sponsors’ websites to keep new episodes of ON THE COUCH coming! Thanks to B&H, Røde Microphones & FilmConvert.

Video Devices just released firmware update v1.10 for their PIX-E5 and PIX-E5H recorders with several key features that dramatically enhance their capabilities.
If you follow our magazine you’ve probably seen our PIX-E5 Review back in August. At that time the recorder offered great functionality and stability with its release firmware. Some firmware updates later the PIX-E5 and PIX-E5H recorders saw some improvements that further enhance their usability.
The new PIX-E5 firmware enables up to 120fps at 1080p resolution via hdmi which means that now the PIX-E5 and PIX-E5H recorders can capture slow motion from the Sony a7S (Note: The a7S outputs 720p at that framerate) or Sony a7S II. (Update: Apparently that Sony feature has not been enabled yet, although it was announced with the release of the cameras)
Another feature they added is 6G-SDI which lets you record high data rates via a single SDI cable. This is used for 4K and RAW recording that currently only the Blackmagic URSA and URSA Mini cameras support.
Last but not least with the new PIX-E5 firmware v1.10 they now implemented 4:3 anamorphic desqueeze which is a nice feature for those using anamorphic lenses on cameras like the Panasonic GH4.
With those new features and the other small changes through firmware updates in the last months this makes the Video Devices PIX-E5 and PIX-E5H recorders even more competitive when it comes to choosing the right device for your project. On that topic you also might want to check out our PIX-E5 vs. Atomos Shogun comparison article.
Of course there are some more new features. But for those of you just looking for the download link for PIX-E5 firmware v1.10 go to videodevices.com/support/.
All new features at a glance:
Added 6G-SDI to support 4K recording over a single SDI cable for cameras with 6G-SDI output, such as Blackmagic URSA. Supports up to 30 fps.
Added new 3:2 pulldown removal option for input to file conversion.
Added high frame rate (HFR) recording up to 1080p120 over HDMI, which is ideal for slow motion format.
Added support for external timecode via the 3.5 mm line inputs and via HDMI. Timecode from the line inputs may also be striped to an audio track.
Added 4:3 anamorphic desqueeze for the LCD and outputs, ideal for cameras such as the Panasonic GH4.
Added the ability to enable or disable LUTs on SDI output.
Enhanced playback capabilities to include frame-by-frame jog, shuttle (from 1/8x to 32x), plus fast forward and rewind at 2x and 16x speeds.
Added ability to select next or previous recorded file from Stop by pressing Rewind or Fast Forward soft key buttons.
Added ability to turn on peaking and zebras at the same time, thereby checking focus and exposure simultaneously.
SDI audio de-embedder issues fixed.
ProRes Proxy macro-blocking on playback fixed.

Watch previous episodes of ON THE COUCH & ON THE GO by clicking here! Visit our Vimeo and YouTube playlists, and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!
In episode 24 of ON THE COUCH, I talked to Frank Mirbach, CEO of German production company Mineworks Film, Lawrence Richards, a director of photography from Germany, and David Stevens, CEO of Glidecam Industries, Inc. (thanks to AF Marcotec for hooking us up with David!).
In this final part of the episode, we talked about the strange fact that cameras tend to become bigger again – after years of “shrinking” the footprint of the everyday cameras like DSLRs and offsprings like the C100/C300, we see a tendency of professional cameras to becoming bigger again. The biggest testament to that fact is the Blackmagic URSA, a massive camera with a large built-in screen that can be folded out.
We also talked about the relevance and future of 4K for various productions as well as how reframing is relevant for various purposes when finishing in 2K or 1080p.
Please visit our sponsors’ websites to keep new episodes of ON THE COUCH coming! Thanks to G-Technology, Røde Microphones, Movidiam, FilmConvert & F&V.

Blackmagic has published a short promo video shot on the unreleased URSA 4.6K.
The URSA 4.6K footage sneak peak offers positive insight as to what the new camera offers as well as the much anticipated URSA Mini 4.6K that both feature an identical new sensor.
The Blackmagic forums confirm this is shot on the Blackmagic URSA 4.6K, Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/1.4 ART lenses, 4×4 Schneider Hollywood Blackmagic 1/4 & Formatt Firecrest ND filters, and graded in DaVinci Resolve.
Words from the Blackmagic shooter:
“Couple of things about the URSA 4.6k footage for some ‘background’. I shot this on a prototype so things were still in development and changing.
This was also just me shooting solo with the URSA like previously and is “home movie” type stuff intended to be a quick first look. In fact, last time with my URSA beta video I had Danelle helping me to carry some gear but this time it was just me shooting some friends and around the city – definitely no crew or anything like that.
For the kitchen shots and the drumming I set up some lights, everything else is 100% natural light, not even bounce. Grading on this video is purposely VERY simple. It’s really just a quick setting of white balance, then contrast and saturation. I didn’t tweak individual colours or even shift colours with Lift/Gamma/Gain because I wanted to show the great natural colour “out of the box”.
This part is my personal opinion and obviously now that I work for BMD people will take it with a grain of salt (to be expected), but personally I think we’ve made a BIG improvement on colour – colour that I already really liked which led me to first purchase the BMCC as a customer.
I think the improvement in colour is just as big as the improvement on dynamic range. With DR, so far in my experience I think it’s safe to say that whatever you rate the Pocket Camera to be, add roughly 2 stops. 1 stop in the highlights, and another stop in the shadows.
I can’t wait for people to get this and go shoot some incredible footage with it!”
Indeed the footage looks great. Reservation with any preview like this should be undertaken when studying compressed footage uploaded to web.
Nether the less we’re seeing some nice, wide dynamic range and some lovely skin tones.
Shooting on older Blackmagic cameras in the past, skin tones out of the box has been one of my major reservations. If this footage is indeed published with little image correction, these look like promising cameras for sure.
The Blackmagic URSA 4.6K and Blackmagic URSA Mini were announced at this years NAB, both sport a new sensor 4.6k super35mm sensor with global shutter (URSA mini with 4K sensor option also).
Unlike previous Blackmagic cameras that focus purely on impressive specifications, it seems the new cameras have more attention to image quality and much improved ergonomics.
Check out our hands on of the Blackmagic URSA Mini in the below video:
Source: http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34426